The Double in the Date Night
by LJLanham
Summary: Bones Secret Santa 2013 fic for thorteso... What might happen when Brennan decides she and Booth need to double date. My first Secret Santa fic. :-) Merry Christmas!


**AN- It's only a little bit early…. But the Holidays tend to make things a little crazy, so since it's been ready for a little while now, I thought I'd go ahead and post my Bones Secret Santa Fanfic. I couldn't get anyone to beta for me, so I hope it's all right! **** This is my first attempt at the Secret Santa and really my first time writing for a prompt. **

**This is for**** thorteso … who asked for a double date with Cam & Arastoo. **

**Merry Christmas, Tess! I hope you like it!**

The Double in the Date Night

Brennan let out a sigh of satisfaction as she sat back in her desk chair. She had gone through her correspondence and returned emails, read over the reports from her last case with Booth and organized her students' rotation schedule for the next month. She'd had a rather productive Monday morning and it wasn't even nine AM. She decided she would take a few minutes for a cup of coffee.

As she climbed the steps to the catwalk lounge, she heard the voices of her colleagues, chatting as they began to prepare for their work day.

"Dude," Jack Hodgins enthused over his latte mug, "Angie and I had a great time the other night. We really need to do that more often."

"It was fun," Arastoo Vaziri agreed. "It's nice for Cam and I to be able to get out together in public. She really likes that new Vietnamese place on 14th Street, she said Angela would love it. Maybe we could do that next time?"

"Sounds great, man. I'll talk to Ange and we can let the ladies work it out."

Before entering the lounge area, Brennan turned around and descended back down the stairs.

**BnBnBnBnBnB**

"I think it's a great idea," Angela said, as she and Cam walked into the lab from lunch. "I've actually been wanting to try it."

"You're going to love it," Cam replied as they walked past the open door to Brennan's office. "Arastoo and I have been there a few times. It's not really Vietnamese, it's more Vietnamese/Thai fusion. I love their curry. They do a great vegan menu, too."

"I can't wait," Angela replied. "I can't believe we didn't do this sooner. I really did have a great time the other night…"

Brennan listened as her friends continued walking. A moment later, they entered Angela's office and she could no longer hear what they were saying. She returned her attention to the student paper she'd been reviewing.

**BnBnBnBnBnB**

"Something smells good," she said, setting her purse down on the kitchen island. She walked over to where her daughter was sitting in her high chair and leaned over to kiss the little girl on head.

"Mama!"

"Hello, Christine," she answered with a smile. "Have you been helping Daddy cook dinner for us?"

"Help!"

Booth laughed at his little girl, who seemed to have only one setting on her volume control these days: excited. He turned to greet his wife with a kiss.

"Chrissy has been very helpful, Mommy," he told her as he winked in their daughter's direction, causing the little girl to erupt into a fit of giggles. "You're early."

"I spent most of the day in my office," she said. "And to be honest, I'm very tired of paperwork."

"I understand," he replied. "I hate it that there are days when I wonder what I wouldn't give for a nice, juicy murder."

"Booth!" his wife scolded, and then laughed softly. "I feel the same way."

A comfortable silence fell over the family as Booth continued working on dinner and Brennan looked on while Christine was playing with the snack her father had given her.

"Why don't we double-date?" Brennan asked after a few minutes.

_That was out of the blue_, Booth thought and turned to her with a confused look on his face.

"Did I say that wrong?" she asked.

"No," he answered. "I was just wondering what brought on the question."

"Angela and Hodgins have gone out with Cam and Arastoo. Why don't we do that?"

"What are you talking about?" Booth asked. "We go out with Hodgins and Ange all the time."

"I mean, Cam and Arastoo. Why don't we go out with them?"

_Watch out Seel_, he thought. _You're walking into a mine field_. The idea of going on a double date with his ex, although she was truly one of his closest friends, and her boyfriend did not sit well with him. This was another one of those times that he was glad his wife was not a "typical" woman. She never gave a thought to any of his previous relationships… but he still wasn't sure this was a good idea.

"I guess it never came up," he said, hoping to sound casual. "Ange is one of your best friends, it just makes sense for us to go out with her and Hodgins."

"I know," Brennan agreed. "Angela_ is_ my best friend… Cam is one of yours… why don't we go out with them?"

"She is," he hedged. "But Arastoo is one of your students…"

"Mr. Vaziri is one of my most promising students. And not for long, he's nearing the end of his program."

**BnBnBnBnBnB**

"Dr. Saroyan," Cam said, answering her telephone.

"We're going on a double date."

"What?"

"You heard me; we're going on a double date."

"Seeley, what are you talking about?"

"Me and Bones, you and Vaziri… we're going to go on a date. Together. Two couples. You know, a double date."

"I understand the concept, Seeley," she said, leaning back in her chair. "But what the hell has you so worked up?"

"My wife came home last night and asked me why we don't double date with you and Arastoo. She heard you all talking about going out with Angela and Hodgins. Don't hold me to it, but I think she got a little jealous."

"Oh," Cam replied quietly.

"Yeah, so… You know how Bones gets when she sets her mind to something. We're going on a double date You have plans this weekend?"

"Uh… actually…"

"What?"

"We were thinking about going to the Caps game…"

"Perfect," Booth said. "You make dinner reservations and I'll get the tickets. Thanks, Camille. You're the best."

Cam pulled the phone away from her head and looked at it as the dial tone blared from the speaker.

"What the hell just happened?"

**BnBnBnBnBnB**

They were seated in a long booth enjoying the dark paneled ambiance of Clyde's of Gallery Place, sharing only somewhat stilted conversation as they looked over the menus.

"Good choice," Booth said, looking across the table at his longtime friend.

"Felicia and I came here before she dragged me to that Beyonce concert the last time she was in town," Cam responded with a slight roll of the eyes. "The food was good and it's close to the Verizon Center…" she paused for a moment, glancing over toward her colleague. "I was a little concerned if there would be enough of a variety of choices for Dr. Brennan…"

"While it's true that their vegetarian choices are a bit limited, they are quite delicious," Brennan replied.

"We usually come here before going to a Caps game, actually," Booth said, answering Cam's unspoken question. "You like hockey, Arastoo?"

"Well," the younger man began to answer, with a small grin and sideways glance toward the woman sitting next to him. "I'm learning to. There isn't exactly a lot of ice hockey in Iran."

Booth laughed. "I guess not."

"But Cam really loves it," Arastoo went on. "We've been to a couple of Capitals games… and we always watch the Rangers on TV." He looked over at his girlfriend as she nodded her head, smiling. "We've even been to watch you and Wendell play a couple of times."

This, apparently, caught Brennan's attention.

"I don't recall seeing you at any of Booth's games," she said.

The couple across the table shared a glance before returning their attention to the couple across the table.

"When we were forced to keep our relationship a secret," Arastoo began. "We would go places when we could get lost in a group setting…"

"Sometimes it worked," Cam said, a wide smile crossing her face, "sometimes, it didn't."

"I remember those days," Booth said, reaching over to take his wife's hand.

"You do?" Brennan asked. "You knew Dr. Saroyan and Mr. Vaziri…"

"Ahem," Booth raised his eyebrows as he cleared his throat in a not-so-subtle gesture of gentle chastisement.

"I mean," Brennan said, correcting herself, "you knew that Cam and Arastoo were seeing each other in secret and you didn't tell me?" She then turned her attention from her husband back to the others at the table. "Booth instructed me that in a social setting it would be more polite to address you by your given names, rather than by your more formal titles…"

"No, Bones," Booth answered. "I didn't know they were dating. I was talking about when _we_ were dating and didn't tell anyone…"

Cam smiled as Brennan reacted with an exaggerated "oh" of recognition.

"You mean when you weren't telling yourselves," she said with a wry grin.

"No. I believe Booth is referring to the time when we were having intercourse after the Broadsky case…"

"Bones!"

Arastoo had to bite his lip to stifle the grin that was spreading across his face as Booth dropped his shaking head into his hands.

"I think we need to order," Booth said, avoiding the eyes of everyone at the table. "Now, where is that waiter?"

"I think I'll start with the Gold Beet and Tangerine Salad," Brennan replied, oblivious. "And then the Autumn Vegetable Strudel."

Booth just shook his head as he was reminded of one of the things that endeared him most to the woman at his side.

"No rabbit food for me," he said. "I'm getting the Philly Cheesesteak Spring Rolls and a good ole fashioned cheeseburger."

"Cheesesteak spring rolls?" Cam asked with a raised eyebrow. "I remember one time at Penn when a certain football player admonished me for trying to order a Chicken Philly... As I recall, he said 'No self-respecting Philadelphian would ever eat any cheesesteak that wasn't classic sliced ribeye, smothered with peppers and onions and topped with cheese whiz on a crusty roll…"

"And you said, '_I guess it's a good thing I'm from New York, then._' Well," Booth replied, smiling with her at the memory. "I guess I grew up. And it's been a while since I've been able to get up to Philly and have a Pat's Original. Sometimes, a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do…"

Arastoo watched his girlfriend talking with her old friend and envied their long history. He saw Cam as the woman he would spend the rest of his life with, but he would have loved to have known her before she had developed the professional persona that she hid behind for the rest of the world.

"We should go," Brennan said.

"But we haven't eaten yet," Booth said with a grin.

"Very amusing, Booth. I was saying that we should go to Philadelphia. I want to see the places you enjoyed when you were growing up. I want to take Christine there, as well. Perhaps we could even take Hank with us…"

Cam and Arastoo looked at each other as they melted away with the rest of the world for the couple across from them.

"It was always like this," she whispered in his ear as he wrapped his arm around her. "They can get so wrapped up in themselves that they forget the rest of us are here. And it gets really freaky when they stop talking. They can have entire conversations with just their eyes."

"I've seen that," Arastoo said. "I believe Angela calls it _'having eye sex.'_"

"Well, that's actually something else entirely," Cam said, laughing softly. "But I guess this isn't your first rodeo, is it?"

"I _have_ been studying with Dr. Brennan for nearly four years," he reminded her.

**BnBnBnBnBnB**

Booth and Cam had arranged to sit next to each other with their respective partners on their opposite sides.

After a couple of bathroom breaks and beer runs, however, somewhere around the middle of the second period, that all changed. Booth was on one end and Cam was on the other.

"It's actually a very fascinating game, Mr. Vaziri," Brennan was overheard saying. "Take that man sitting in the penalty box… he was called for Interference. Interference is called when a player interferes with or impedes the progress of an opponent who does not have the puck. It is also assessed to a player who deliberately knocks the stick out of an opponent's hand or who prevents a player who has dropped his stick, or any other piece of equipment, from picking it back up."

"Fascinating," Arastoo replied. "It is similar to the use of the 'time-out' used in child rearing…"

"Yes, but the Penalty Box pre-dates 'time-out' and other techniques by so –called experts like Jo Frost by nearly two centuries."

"SuperNanny!" Booth exclaimed. "I know that one. But I'm surprised you do, Bones."

"Booth, we have a two-year old. I can't tell you how many people have referred me to Jo Frost's techniques, but I do not understand why. Her techniques are such that anyone who possesses any amount of logic, or what you call common sense, should be able to come up with them…."

"I must have missed something," Cam said, joining in. "What does SuperNanny have to do with hockey?"

"Dr. Brennan was just explaining the use of the penalty box to me," Arastoo said, with a wink that only Cam could see. "I likened it to the concept of a time-out."

"But as I was saying," Brennan replied, regaining control of the conversation. "The first codified rules of hockey, known as the Halifax Rules, were brought to Montreal by James Creighton, who organized the first indoor hockey game in 1875.

It was not until 1904 that players were ruled off the ice for infractions. At that time, a referee could assess a two, three or five minute penalty, depending on the severity of the foul. By 1914, all penalties were five minutes in length, reduced to three minutes two years later, and the offending player was given an additional fine. When the National Hockey League was founded in 1917, it mandated that a team could not substitute for any player who was assessed a penalty, thus requiring them to play shorthanded for the duration. The penalty was shortened to two minutes for the 1921–22 season, while five and ten minute penalties were added two years later."

"I think I need another beer," Booth said, standing.

"I'll come with you," Cam said, climbing over her boyfriend and Brennan to join Booth in the aisle.

**BnBnBnBnBnB**

"Wow," Cam said as she walked over to her sofa and sat down next to Arastoo. "That was… interesting."

Arastoo smiled as he took the glass of wine she handed him.

"I thought it was fun. Who knew Dr. Brennan knew so much about hockey?" he said, laughing.

"You were great with her," she replied, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. "I couldn't sit patiently listening to her, and she wasn't even lecturing me."

"That's just how Dr. Brennan copes with awkward situations," he said. "She's at her most comfortable when she's teaching. If it made her feel better, what did it hurt? I didn't mind letting her teach me a little about the game. I did actually learn quite a bit."

"You are really wonderful, you know that?" she said, setting down her glass and leaning in to kiss him.

"Oh yeah?" he asked with a smile.

"_Oh_ yeah."

**BnBnBnBnBnB**

"Is Christine asleep?" Brennan asked as Booth joined her in their bedroom.

"Yep," he said, climbing into bed next to her. "Snug as a bug."

"I detest that colloquialism, Booth."

"She's sleeping soundly," he said, grabbing the monitor off of the nightstand. "See?"

"Thank you."

"I thought tonight went pretty well," he said. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yes," she answered. "I really did."

"I knew you'd learned the rules," he said. "But I had no idea you knew so much about hockey."

"It's important to you," she said, casually, as if it was the only answer needed.

When he didn't respond, she realized she had to say more.

"Research," she said, smiling widely as she added, "it's kind of my thing. Hockey is important to you, and to Parker. I learned the rules of the game years ago so that I could understand what was happening when I attended his games… and yours. I studied the history of the game much later, after you and I attended my first NHL game."

"You're amazing," he said, pulling her into his arms. "Do you know that?"

"I am quite exceptional," she said.

"No," he said. "I mean it… I mean, yeah, Dr. Temperance Brennan is exceptional. But my Bones… my wife… Baby, you are truly amazing. You have this incredible heart-" At a momentary loss for words, he leaned down and kissed her with all the emotion he was feeling.

She returned the kiss in equal measure, and that only served to fill his heart up even more. As the kiss ended, he pulled back enough to look into her gorgeous silver eyes.

"God, Bones. I am truly the luckiest man alive. Me, Parker and Christine… we're all so lucky to have you. And you don't even know it. 'I love you' doesn't seem like enough. But I do, I love you so damn much."

"I love you, Booth."

-the end

**AN2 - Hope you liked it! Please leave a review and let me know! :-) Tess, I hope it's what you wanted! **I'm no hockey expert, I usually get my info from NatesMama. :-) But today, Brennan's extensive hockey knowledge came from Wikipedia. **


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